On the Road with Boxy Bobby
On the road again
Goin’ places that I’ve never been
Seein’ things that I may never see again
And I can’t wait to get on the road again
No, Willie Nelson didn’t join us on our trip, but we sure had a great time visiting broker partners throughout the Midwest! Brandon Laam, our Director of Business Development and Terri Moran, our Chief Underwriting Officer, let me ride shotgun and even agreed to stop in one of my favorite places—Casey, IL—“The Town of Big Things”!
I’ve put a photo album together of our pitstops—enjoy! I can’t wait for our next road trip to the Northeast!
First Stop: Eugene Benes Insurance
Villa Park, IL — It was great to catch up with Bill Benes and Pam Bender at Eugene Benes Insurance. Nice selfie, team!
Next Stop: Arthur J. Gallagher, MO
We had breakfast with Brian Dimit and Debbie Spanley from Arthur J. Gallagher and I photobombed them!
Off-the-Road Stop: “The Town of Big Things”
Casey, IL — a small town with a BIG reputation! Don’t ask how I got up on the World’s Largest Rocking Chair. I am scared of heights now!
On to Protective Insurance
We had a very productive meeting with our partners at Protective Insurance in Carmel, IN.
Then to Indy for Some Fun…
A quick “pit stop” at the SCCA National Championship Runoffs at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to watch our President, Clayton Cavell, race in his qualifying round! Renee Paul from our BizChoice team joined us to cheer him on.
…and Some Business!
After our day at the Speedway, Broker Bill Leppert welcomed us to HJ Spier. Man, those cars are loud…I still can’t hear!
Rock ’n’ Roll Hall of Fame
What’s a Midwest tour without a quick pit-stop at The Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, OH? Incomplete! That Elvis exhibit gets me every time!
Last Stop: Richfield, OH
We enjoyed our visit with Assured Partners’ Dave Voight and Rachel Simbeck. Sad to see our trip come to an end.
Fire Extinguishers
Many fires can be contained and extinguished before they get out of control, if fire extinguishers are available and used properly. Know the acronym for fire extinguisher use — P.A.S.S. — Pull, Aim, Squeeze, and Sweep. Pull the safety pin from the handle, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep.
Navigate the Road of Cyber Risk
Download our infographic for valuable tips to prevent potential damages from cyberattacks. From computer breaches, phishing scams and highjacked websites to damages to your business’s reputation, this resource highlights the importance of being Cyber Safe.
Cyber Risk in 2021 — Trucking / Transportation
The trucking industry faces several key cyber risks:
- Business Interruption: loss of income following a cyber-attack or from operational or technical failure is a real and complex threat.
- Ransomware: ransom expenses or the cost the repair/recreate data damages by a ransomware may be significant.
- Reputational Harm: a cyber-event exposing business data, or which brings operations to a standstill, can impact your reputation and customer’s willingness to do business with your firm.
- Fraudulent Wire Transfer: being deceived into wiring funds into the wrong account through phishing scams or business email compromise has been an increasing trend over the past 4 years.
Loss & Incident Examples
Ransomeware — A Texas-based trucking firm was the victim of a ransomware attack and corporate identity theft, which started when the VP of the company opened a seemingly harmless email attachment which described itself as a “resume” for an applicant who was applying for a job-opening. Upon clicking on the “resume” document, a malware virus was introduced onto the system and quickly went to the main server’s ‘shared file’, which locked up all the servers and displayed a ransom message on every computer. After paying the ransom and gaining access to their systems, the firm thought the case was closed. Until the phone calls started coming in from clients. When the ransomware encrypted the servers, the hackers had also stolen all of their customer data, employee data, SSN’s, etc., and started calling brokers on the company’s list, booking loads under their name and insisting on cash advances, which totaled up to $800/load in some cases. When the loads never got picked up, customers started calling. As highlighted by this event, cyber-attacks can disrupt goods and services, divert finances, and hurt a company’s reputation.
Email Spoofing — A trucking dealer was the victim of an email spoofing attack by an individual pretending to be the owner of the company requesting a copy of employee W-2 information from an employee of the company. The employee was duped by the scam and sent documents containing W-2 information to the fraudster.
A trucking dealer was the victim of an email spoofing attack by an individual pretending to be the owner of the company requesting a copy of employee W-2 information from an employee of the company. The employee was duped by the scam and sent documents containing W-2 information to the fraudster.
